Claims to universal human rights depend, in part, on formal recognition of our common humanity. Many countries use human rights as a broad framework to think about regulatory options for human biotechnologies. International declarations also commonly use this framework. Examples include the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and UNESCO's Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights.

The Convention on Biomedicine and Human Rights, like a number of other international agreements and declarations, rejects biotechnology applications that would alter the genomes of future generations. Manipulating genes in a manner that encodes inequality into our genes could easily unravel centuries of progress toward respecting human worth.

Human Gene Editing: A Timeline of CRISPR Cover StoriesWith recent gene editing tools, a number of high-profile media are featuring CRISPR on their covers and front pages. We gather highlights since early 2015, along with opinion polls, TV shows, and editorial board statements.

World Bioethics Day: Human Dignity and Human Rightsby Leah Lowthorp, Biopolitical TimesOctober 19th, 2016October 19 marks the first such international event sponsored by the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics. This year's theme of Human Dignity and Human Rights will be celebrated in 55 countries worldwide.

Peru Fails to Deliver for Indigenous Womenby Shena Cavallo, openDemocracySeptember 12th, 2016Some 300,000 poor rural indigenous people were forcibly sterilized according to state "quotas," but a public prosecutor has decided not to pursue charges of "crimes against humanity."

In science, follow the money – if you canby Paul D. Thacker & Curt Furberg, The Los Angeles TimesMay 12th, 2016Disclosure and restrictions do not harm academic freedom. These policies still allow scientists to pursue research, while ensuring that public health is not put at risk in service of corporate profit.

A DNA Sequencer in Every Pocketby Ed Yong, The AtlanticApril 28th, 2016Oxford Nanopore Technologies, which severed financial ties with DNA sequencing monolith Illumina in 2013, is "desperately thinking of ways of bringing them down.” These include a USB-powered sequencer called the MinION.

I Can't Breatheby Anne Fausto-Sterling, Boston ReviewMarch 21st, 2016The belief in racial essentialism means that the medical curriculum pays scant attention to the means by which the social experience of race produces disease.

Whose Body, Whose Property, What Choice?by Alison Irvine & Katayoun Chamany, Biopolitical Times guest contributorsMarch 21st, 2016A recent panel at The New School brought together speakers on health psychology, queer studies, law, life sciences, and more to discuss bodies purchased for labor and care in assisted reproduction.

The Troubling Rise of Rapid DNA Testingby Ava Kofman, New RepublicFebruary 24th, 2016Your DNA can now be read in less time than it would take to wait at a typical DMV. New portable rapid DNA devices may represent a giant leap backward for civil liberties.

Harvard’s Eugenics Eraby Adam S. Cohen, Harvard MagazineFebruary 19th, 2016Given that Harvard affiliates will play a large role in genetic engineering, it is important to contemplate how wrong so many people tied to the University got it the first time—and to think hard about how, this time, to get it right.

The History of Eugenics in Quebec and at McGill
by Hailey MacKinnon, The McGill TribuneFebruary 16th, 2016McGill University is known for its cutting-edge scientific research. Many may not know, however, that McGill was a communication hub between eugenicists in Britain and Canada.

Taking race out of human geneticsby Michael Yudell, Dorothy Roberts, Rob DeSalle & Sarah Tishkoff, ScienceFebruary 5th, 2016"We believe the use of biological concepts of race in human genetic research—so disputed and so mired in confusion—is problematic at best and harmful at worst. It is time for biologists to find a better way."

Gene Therapy: Comeback? Cost-Prohibitive?by Elliot Hosman, Biopolitical TimesNovember 19th, 2015Recent CRISPR news sometimes confuses germline modification - which should be put off limits - and gene therapy, which presents its own set of social and ethical risks to resolve before rushing to market.

Cops Want To Look At 23andMe Customers’ DNAby Stephanie M. Lee, BuzzFeedOctober 21st, 2015The FBI and other agencies have asked for — and been denied — five users’ data, according to a new transparency report on the company's website, and chain of custody could be a legal obstacle for future requests.

Indigenous peoples must benefit from scienceby Dyna Rochmyaningsih, Nature NewsOctober 20th, 2015The triple helix of science, the private sector, and government have driven the world’s economy since the Industrial Revolution, but to drive sustainable development, science must empower rural communities — not just serve industry and governments.

Who has your DNA—or wants itby Jocelyn Kaiser, ScienceSeptember 25th, 2015More and more groups are amassing computer server–busting amounts of human DNA. At least 17 biobanks that hold, or plan to hold, genomic data on 75,000 or more people.

What Will 120 Million CRISPR Dollars Buy?by Elliot Hosman, Biopolitical TimesAugust 13th, 2015As Editas Medicine receives major injection of financing, how will the genetics boom impact funding for public health?

Surrogate Children Get Legal Recognition in Franceby Philippe Sotto, TimeJuly 3rd, 2015While surrogacy will remain banned in France, children born abroad through this practice will now be legally tied to their parents and will be granted birth certificates and French citizenship.

Looking back: Daniel Callahanby Michael Cook, BioEdgeJune 13th, 2015A retrospective by one of the founders of American bioethics is a reminder of a broader and more communitarian view of the discipline.

The Ethics of International Surrogacyby Anne Schiff, The Jerusalem PostMay 17th, 2015Sometimes it takes a tragedy to draw public attention to otherwise unconsidered problems. The recent earthquakes in Nepal, and their consequences for Israelis hiring surrogate mothers there, represent such an instance.

The Rights of Donor-Conceived Offspringby Naomi Cahn, Biopolitical Times guest contributorApril 15th, 2015While their parents’ choices affect them as children, donor-conceived children grow up, and many become curious about their origins. The law’s tight focus on the parent-child relationship excludes legal questions relating to donor-conceived adults.

A primer on DNA forensicsby Blair Crawford, Ottawa CitizenFebruary 18th, 2015Improved technology and automation means DNA profiles can now be done in a matter of days and, in the future, the wait could be reduced to just hours. But DNA evidence is hardly infallible.

Two Neuroscientists Who Get It Rightby Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesJanuary 7th, 2015Two UC San Diego neuroscientists have created a “Roadmap to a New Neuroscience.” It is a status-quo-shifting kind of amazing.

Breaking from our Eugenic Pastby Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesNovember 13th, 2014As the victims of North Carolina's eugenics program finally receive compensation, we should not celebrate "the new eugenics" as some have argued, but learn carefully from this history.

Could Genomics Revive The Eugenics Movement?by Meredith Salisbury, ForbesNovember 8th, 2014There was a time when people in America were sterilized, sometimes unwittingly, by activists aiming to create a healthier, “better” population. As the progress of genomics accelerates, we need to remember the lessons of the past.

‘Haunted Files': The Dark Side of Progressivismby Naomi Schaefer Riley, New York PostNovember 4th, 2014With funding from the Carnegie Institution and the Rockefeller Foundation, New York's Eugenics Records Office had the financial backing of the most important and “forward thinking” folks of the time.

What Good is a Scientific Meeting If You Dismiss the Science?by Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesOctober 29th, 2014The Science and Technology Committee of the UK Parliament held an evidence hearing last week to examine the science and proposed regulation of so-called “mitochondrial donation,” or “3-person IVF,” but huge swaths of evidence were widely dismissed.

The Real Problem With Sperm Banksby Keli Goff, The Daily BeastOctober 7th, 2014A woman recently sued a sperm bank that mistakenly sent her sperm from a black donor instead of a white donor. The lawsuit highlights the lack of regulation of an industry that has life and death implications and is not regulated accordingly.

US Doctors Update Gamete Donation Guidelinesby Michael Cook, BioEdgeSeptember 28th, 2014The American Society for Reproductive Medicine has updated its guidelines for gamete donation in the light of the growing recognition that offspring may have a right to know their genetic parents.

An End to Sterilization Abuses in California Prisonsby Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesSeptember 26th, 2014The signing of SB 1135 into California law by Gov. Jerry Brown is an important victory in the fight for the remembrance of our state's eugenic history and its ongoing implications.

Richard Dawkins Gets it all Wrong, Yet Again by George Estreich, SalonSeptember 25th, 2014As a social media event, the Dawkins kerfuffle was fleeting, but as a conversation, it offers a glimpse of a larger question: How do “we” — that is, the non-disabled — think about people with intellectual disabilities?

Under the Skinby Nathaniel Comfort, NatureSeptember 18th, 2014Three recent books focus on whether race is biological and therefore "real." But this question is a dead end, a distraction from what is really at stake in this debate: human social equality.

International Surrogacy, Global Consumerism, Harms to Women and Childrenby Carmel Shalev, Biopolitical Times guest contributorSeptember 15th, 2014Medical associations, nations, and the international community must intervene in the unregulated global market for surrogacy to protect, promote and sanction the human dignity and human rights of women and children.

“Evolution right now is in the marketplace”by Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesSeptember 11th, 2014George Church is as outrageous as ever, while both transhumanist ideas and concerns about increasing inequality are receiving more attention.

An International Agreement on Commercial Surrogacy? by Marcy Darnovsky, Biopolitical TimesSeptember 4th, 2014A three-day convening in The Hague brought together scholars, women’s health and human rights advocates, and policymakers from 27 countries to tackle concerns about international commercial surrogacy.

Misconceptionby Sarah Dingle, The Sydney Morning HeraldAugust 16th, 2014The discovery in her late 20s that she was conceived using a sperm donor was a huge shock to Sarah Dingle. But learning there was no possibility of finding out the name of her biological father was even more disturbing.

Tuskegee Todayby Jessica Cussins, The Huffington PostAugust 8th, 2014Last week marked the 42nd anniversary of the Tuskegee syphilis study and many people took the opportunity to examine its relevance to the treatment of human research subjects today.

Tuskegee, Todayby Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesAugust 7th, 2014Last week marked the 42nd anniversary of the Tuskegee syphilis study and many people took the opportunity to examine its relevance to the treatment of human research subjects today.

North Carolina and Genetics: From Sterilization to Research Subjectsby Victoria Massie, Biopolitical Times guest contributorAugust 7th, 2014In the twentieth century, North Carolina was one of dozens of states that targeted certain citizens for eugenic sterilization. Today, in a town outside Charlotte, biotech researchers are asking for urine and blood samples and offering $10 gift cards to WalMart in exchange.

California Set to Prohibit Sterilization of Prisonersby Jonathan Chernoguz, Biopolitical TimesJuly 24th, 2014With the unanimous approval of Senate Bill 1135 in Sacramento last month, the victims of recent unauthorized sterilizations in California prisons, and their advocates, seem likely to win this important victory.

Making Sense of the BRAINby Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesJuly 24th, 2014As criticisms of the brain projects on both sides of the Atlantic ramp up, what lessons can be learned from the successes and failures of the Human Genome Project?

'Shoebox IVF' Hope for Infertile
Couplesby Cathy Edwards, BBCJune 21st, 2014Infertility has been neglected in developing countries, partly because of a focus on controlling overpopulation. But experts argue that true reproductive health has to address both sides.

US Paediatrician Attacks Surrogacyby Michael Cook, BioEdgeMay 3rd, 2014A pediatrician at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine has published a blistering rebuttal to the claim that on the whole, women in developing countries benefit from commercial surrogacy.

Preference for Sons Hurts Mothersby Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Council on Foreign RelationsMay 1st, 2014A recent paper released by the World Bank suggests that son preference could be doing more than skewing sex ratios in India: It may be partly responsible for driving high mortality rates seen among mothers in India whose first child is a girl.

When Science Doesn't Have all the Answersby Louise Kinross, BloomMarch 6th, 2014My son’s rare genetic deletion is on the list of disorders identified by microarray analysis of a fetus’s DNA. It makes me sad to think that the lives of children like my son are being targeted for termination. Is this a step forward?

Old Songs, New Tests, and Expensive Childrenby George Estreich, Biopolitical Times guest contributorFebruary 20th, 2014The CEO of AOL justified a restructuring of the company’s 401(K) plan by citing two "distressed babies." This tone-deaf insensitivity was answered by a disapproving choir, but it sadly resembles too many descriptions of the "cost" of people with disabilities.